


To Clip One's Wings

by darkershadesworktoo



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ballet, Dancer, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 13:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10640502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkershadesworktoo/pseuds/darkershadesworktoo
Summary: Why does Marinette feel such hatred for Chloe? What if they used to be friends but had a falling out? What if they were dancers?! This is a prelude to Miraculous Ladybug.





	

Marinette giggled as she ran up to her parents after her recital. Her father lifted her up in a tight hug and kissed her cheek.

“You were amazing tonight, Mari! We’re so proud of you!” It was Marinette’s second year at the dance studio, and she was quickly becoming one of their best youth dancers. She and Chloé were always the leads, and they were fast friends. They hung out after rehearsal at the Dupain-Cheng bakery and had sleepovers at least once a week.

When the theater decided to do the Nutcracker, Marinette and Chloé were both hoping for roles. The lead, Clara, was their only chance to star. When it came time for auditions, every girl in Paris from six to fourteen was waiting at the theater for their chance. Marinette and Chloé were some of the first ones there, and they chatted excitedly up until the moment they were called into their auditions.

The studio released the names of their members who had callbacks. Both Marinette and Chloé were asked to come back for the part of Clara. The two made it all through to the final callbacks. They agreed that the decision wouldn’t affect their friendship. Marinette cared too much about Chloé to let jealousy come between them.

When Marinette got the call that she would be Clara, she comforted Chloé before celebrating. She brought Chloé treats from the bakery, but Chloé was too hurt to take them. She cried for days after that, and Marinette was careful to avoid talking about it around her.

After the Nutcracker, Marinette began taking dance more seriously. Her parents paid for her to take private lessons after school, and she spent all of her free time dancing or stretching. As Marinette’s classes increased, she noticed that Chloé’s did too. Chloé began taking ballet lessons twice a day, but when auditions for Swan Lake came around, it was still Marinette who got the lead, with Chloé taking the role of understudy.

Not that Chloé didn’t get the chance to perform. As luck would have it, Marinette’s shoes broke on opening night, so Chloé had to perform for her. Marinette was too proud for her friend to notice that her shoe had been cut open by a knife or scissors.

It began to seem as though something went wrong every time Marinette was given the lead. The costume would be too small, despite fitting the day before. One time, Marinette was told the wrong call time and didn’t show up until halfway through the first act. Despite all that, she still tried her best.

Marinette and Chloé continued dancing together until their 7th year of school. It was their studio recital, and Marinette was a featured soloist. A talented choreographer developed a beautiful story for Marinette’s dance, and she was given a flower printed umbrella as a prop. Her outfit was a soft rose two-piece leotard with rose petals and vines splayed across her body. She spent nearly a month perfecting the dance, and the whole studio was proud of her as she did her final run-through the night before the performance.

Marinette spent the whole night rehearsing, knowing she had to ace the dance. She was supposed to be a flower fairy from a gentle world who discovers humans, only to be taken advantage of by human greed. It was moving, and Marinette wanted to do the dance justice with her performance.

The next day, Chloé came to pick Marinette up for the recital. Marinette talked about how excited she was to be doing a solo, but Chloé didn’t seem too interested in listening. In fact, as soon as they got to the studio, Chloé left Marinette alone. Marinette didn’t notice too much, instead focusing on running over her dance time after time.

After her third run, she decided to take a break and watch some of the dances. Everyone looked beautiful on stage, and she marveled at the senior dancers. She dreamt of being a prima ballerina and leading ballets in America or England. If she nailed this dance, it would definitely give her a push in the right direction. She just couldn’t mess up.

Feeling pumped up from watching other dancers, Marinette returned backstage to prep for her dance. She made sure her makeup was blended and clean, and she tightened her bun as much as she could.

Wanting to run her dance one more time just for good measure, Marinette went to the practice room. She remembered leaving her umbrella prop in the corner, but it suddenly wasn’t there. Marinette’s heart sank as she panicked slightly. _Focus, Marinette_ , she told herself as she searched for the flowery umbrella. It wasn’t in the practice room, though she swore that was where she had left it. She decided to check backstage in case anyone moved it.

“Chloé, have you seen my prop?” Marinette called as she sprinted around backstage. She froze when she spotted Chloé standing directly in front of her, holding the umbrella prop in her arms.

“Wow, thanks, Chloé! You’re a lifesaver!” Marinette went to grab the umbrella, but Chloé pulled her arm back. Marinette frowned and tried again, but Chloé took a step away.

“ _I_ used to be the star here, not you!” Chloé hissed. “Let’s see how their perfect star performs without her prop!” And Chloé snapped the umbrella in half. Marinette’s eyes widened in fear as she could do nothing but watch Chloé throw the two halves on the ground. Tears welled in Marinette’s eyes.

“Chloé,” was all Marinette could muster before sprinting away. Had their friendship been a lie? They _lived_ for dancing, and they made sure to build each other up, but how long had Chloé been trying to sabotage her? When the shank of Marinette’s pointe shoes broke, had it actually been from too much practice? Or did Chloé break them to make sure Marinette wouldn’t be able to perform for the opening night of Swan Lake?

Marinette ran to the lobby and began asking to see if anyone had an umbrella. It was a beautiful day out, and all she got was sympathetic looks. Marinette sobbed openly, knowing she’d have to perform without her prop. How could she be expected to do well?

Marinette ran over her dance without the prop, but it wasn’t the same. The dance was created around her umbrella. Without it, the dance had no emotion. Marinette took a deep breath and tried to push her feelings aside. She was a featured dancer; she had to sell her performance, prop or no prop.

When it was time for Marinette to take to the stage, she tried to do so with a brave face, knowing this wasn’t going to be her best. She started off shaky, falling out of her first pirouettes almost immediately. From there, things just got worse. She didn’t land her aerial, and her leaps were weak. She also had a dress malfunction, with her headpiece falling off halfway through the dance.

Marinette still finished the dance, knowing it was one of her worse performances, and she tried keeping her head high. Her teachers were waiting for her when she exited the stage to question why she didn’t have her umbrella. Marinette didn’t care anymore. She left the recital before the final bow and ran all the way home. Her parents were confused to see her come back so early, and they were quick to close the bakery when they saw her tears.

“Mari, what happened?” her mother asked her as sweetly as she could, leading Marinette out of the bakery and into their home.

“Can I quit dance?” Marinette sobbed.

“Why? You love dancing!” her mother exclaimed. Marinette couldn’t bring herself to admit why she wanted to quit, so she lied. She hated lying to her parents, but she was sure she could be excused just this once.

“I just don’t like it anymore.” The words didn’t sound right coming out of Marinette’ mouth. She loved dancing. It broke her heart to say she didn’t like it. But she couldn’t do it anymore. Not with the studio; not with Chloé. She vowed, as she barely listened to her parents agree to pull her from classes, that she would never be friends with Chloé again. From now on, they were enemies.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So that's chapter one. It's just the background for hopefully another two chapters. Tell me if you guys like the idea! I love writing Miraculous Ladybug stuff for you guys! (but I'm not good at it)


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